At the start of the season I tipped Warrington Wolves to win the Super League competition.
I felt the addition of 2014 Man of Steel winner Daryl Clark would give an additional attacking dimension to a team full of speed merchants and try scorers like Joel Monaghan, Ryan Atkins and Stefan Ratchford.
Furthermore, Fijian international Ashton Sims was set to further enhance a powerful forward pack, including England internationals Chris Hill, Mickey Highham and Ben Westwood.
Add in the expected improvement of Gareth O’Brien’s partnership with Richie Myler and the youth of Ben Harrison and James Laithwaite (I didn’t even mention Ben Currie) and they had the right ingredients to take the Super League crown after being runners up in 2012 and 2013.
How wrong could I have been. The Wolves have never really got going this season.
The same can be said for Clark. He failed to reach anywhere near the level of performance he achieved for Castleford last season, and he will struggle to keep hold of his international place as a consequence.
But the buck doesn’t just lie with Clark. The Wolves have not settled on a halfback partnership all season, with either injuries, loss of form, or the tinkering of head coach Tony Smith meaning the Wolves have got through numerous pairings that were never able to get an understanding of each other and in turn failed to control the team.
The mid-season loss of hooker Mickey Higham to Leigh Centurions affected the Wolves more than it should have done, although it did bring about the return of young Brad Dwyer from a season-long loan spell at London Broncos, and he has been a standout in the second half of the season.
Halfback Richie Myler hasn’t fulfilled his potential, and Smith appears to have finally got tired of waiting to see the best of him on a regular basis and has not offered him a new contract.
In addition, Smith has this week released another young halfback, Gareth O’Brien, along with club captain Joel Monaghan – who still had one year left on his contract – and veteran forward Roy Asotasi.
Monaghan has not had his best season in Wolves colours with only 16 tries (after a hat-trick against Catalans this weekend) but at a try per game in over 140 appearances in a very successful five-year career at the Wolves, they would fare better next season by pairing Monaghan with new signing Tom Lineham on the wings rather than Gene Ormesby or Kevin Penny – neither of whom are at Monaghan’s level.
Strangely, Smith has not ruled out a return to Warrington for O’Brien sometime in the future. He seems to want O’Brien to prove himself at another club, looking likely to be Salford Red Devils, before maybe returning as the finished article at a later date. If Smith feels he has the potential to be a top Super League halfback, why release him instead of moulding him into the player he wants him to be?
Chris Bridge will also be a big loss, he is a player I rate highly and Widnes have made an excellent signing. He has a lot of experience, is a top-quality centre, and can also do a very good job at halfback.
Australian enigma Chris Sandow signed towards the end of the season after a turbulent end to his career at Parramatta Eels and although his first four games have not gone that well, he’s set to be one of the stand-out players in Super League in 2016. He will have to gel quickly with his halves partner, veteran Aussie international Kurt Gidley, signed from Newcastle Knights, to make sure the Wolves get off to good start next year.
Ben Currie has had an outstanding 2015 and should earn a call-up to the England squad, and the signing of Jack Hughes from Wigan, after a successful loan spell at Huddersfield Giants in 2015, gives the Wolves good strength in the back row, with James Laithwaite due back from a season-ending broken leg suffered in the Challenge Cup quarter-final win over Leigh Centurions.
The squad looks good, but do the Wolves have to look off the field a bit more to see why they have underperformed in the last two regular seasons?
Has Tony Smith outstayed his welcome? Has he got his feet too firmly under the table?
Is Richard Agar the right man to be his assistant coach?
Smith generally knows when to move on, and obviously feels that he can turn around the Wolves’ fortunes and get them back to major finals in 2016 and beyond. But another struggling year in 2016 may see the club force a change in the coaching set-up.
Russell
Guest
Me too Andy. There is TGG and then there's everything in second place except for union which comes in at the rear, just behind croquet . And I don't mind if we disagree about everything so long as its well argued, stays away from insults, and doesn't try to depress the RL world, his wife and the entire Sioux nation about the perilous and doomed nature of something that's lasted 120 years despite some very determined efforts......... By the way I'm not a Wolves fan but a League discussion is a league discussion and if you haven't got a side on the issue how much of a fan are you????
Andy Sharpe
Roar Guru
Thanks for reading Russell - I just love to have a debate at any time on anything rugby league.
Russell
Guest
Andy I think you're absolutely right and changing bits of articles even the headline is all too common occurrence. The gelling at half back is a question mark for the Wolves but now they're just searching for a partner that works with Sandow rather than who was there before. At the moment I think Ratchford is the better long term answer to this conundrum as well as the question of stopping moving him any where and everywhere so he can become the international he should have been an age ago. As an aside, apart from me, and amazingly for something called the Roar the silence to your article is deafening, I put this down to the G F, the Hayne evidence of Aussie toadying to anything USA, and the Antipodean idea that RL only happens in one hemisphere! You should write more for this website because Australians need reminding they're not the only game in town! That should light a few blue touch papers! So stand well back Andy!
Andy Sharpe
Roar Guru
I must admit Russell the headline wasn't mine - mine was more of a question - are Warrington in disarray? It just seems to me that Tony Smith isn't sure about what / who he wants and there has been a lot of blood letting of players that really are Warrington through and through and don't want to be anywhere else. They ended the season well but are a shadow of the team that they where even 12 months ago and I expected them to be title contenders at least this year - especially with bringing Daryl Clark in from Castleford. So the headline is a little bit over dramatic but I think some of my points hold water - they really need Sandow to gel with whoever his half back partner is next year - Ratchford?? Gidley?? to ensure they get a good start - I don't think Smith will get away with another inconsistent season.
Russell
Guest
"Why are Warrington in disarray?" I'm not sure they are Andy. No, they haven't had a trophy season. No they certainly didn't manage to match up their expectations and performances. On the face of it certain players have been identified by the coach as the problem areas and have been moved on. This is interesting in that, at times, those very players seemed to be performing well and better than many of those who have not been singled out for removal. The usual has happened injuries to the wrong players at the wrong times, ( I'm not suggesting it would've been okay for other players to be injured here or that there is a good time to be injured, by the way) just that these factors help explain some of what the Wolves have had happen to them. They have played brilliantly at times, and at their best looked like trophies had their name on ready to be picked up. They've had off days, unfortunately when the teams they been playing have had really good days. But this wouldn't single them out not even from a couple of top 4 clubs. In fact the only time the idea of disarray could be used without being overly dramatic would be if: a) they weren't in the top eight at all and/or b) they were in the million pound game this week and weren't playing well to boot! Their coach might be right and a bit of new blood will make all the difference because the worst to be said from all this is that they haven't been good enough often enough. On that sort of criteria who would make the cut in SL? Leeds ............